Socializing use: This dispositional attribute is related to affiliation needs (Maslow, 1954; Winter, 1996). Users employ IT to keep in touch with people, to communicate/exchange information with their social groups (personal or workbased), and/or to be part of a community (e.g., social networks or virtual work teams) (‘‘I need IT to talk to my friends, my family, to exchange with my work colleagues. . . I use emails, Facebook”: comedian; and ‘‘[With IT], you can communicate with people that you know”: arts student). The use of IT to socialize and communicate through emails, intranets, and social networks has tremendously increased during the last decade (Boyd, 2008; Flanagin and Waldeck, 2004).
SOCUSE1 I use IT to communicate
SOCUSE2 I use IT to socialize with certain people
SOCUSE3 I use IT to keep in touch with certain people without being physically face to face